Baldwinsville History Mystery: Do you know anything about this picture?

Question

Baldwinsville — The business seen here was “the new kid on the block” when this photo was taken. A branch of The Merchants National Bank & Trust Company of Syracuse, the Baldwinsville facility was housed in a renovated building formerly occupied by another major local business. Can you identify the location and the name of the structure’s former occupant?

Last week’s answer

Take a good look at the included photos. Do you recognize the woman on the left? What did she have to do with the photo above?

The photos from last week represent a very significant contribution to the Baldwinsville community by the person pictured and also the group whose anniversary celebration program is represented here.

Rosemary S. Nesbitt, a Baldwinsville native, distinguished herself in anything she did. She taught at Wells, Syracuse University and SUNY Oswego, earning the honor of Distinguished Professor. Her subject was primarily theater. She wrote more than 15 children’s plays and two historical fiction books, also for children, entitled “The Great Rope” and “Colonel Meacham’s Giant Cheese.” She started the H. Lee White Marine Museum and was responsible for the inception of Harbor Fest.

While she was a senior at Baldwinsville Academy in 1942, she sparked the idea of bringing community theater to Baldwinsville. Meeting with a small group of friends in her home, Rosemary proposed the idea of organizing forces to present a play with local talent. In formulating her plans, she stated, ”The purpose of the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild should be to bring to the people of this village, the best in American plays.” This means that all types of plays should be considered from the best in comedy, to the best in tragedy.

The picture on the right is from the Stage Whisper, the guild’s newsletter from June 19, 1982. It was part of the printed program for the 40th anniversary celebration of the founding of BTG.

Rosemary’s idea turned into a very significant part of the Baldwinsville community. Over the years BTG has produced at least one and sometimes two or more productions every year since its inception.

continued — Several readers correctly identified the photo as Rosemary Nesbitt, but the first correct response came from Ginny Goldsworthy Bullard: “The lady’s name is Rosemary Sennett Nesbitt. She lived next door to me while growing up. The picture is of one of the many plays she directed. She was well known for her New Year’s play she put on every year at the St. Mary’s church here in Baldwinsville. She moved to Oswego where she was a professor at Oswego College and the local historian.”

BTG is frequently billed as the oldest continually performing community theater group in New York State. This year marks its 75th year.

Be sure to get your tickets to the upcoming production of “Sweeney Todd” being presented by the Baldwinsville Theatre Guild on January 22,23,29,30 and 31 and Feb. 5 and 6.

Thanks to Mark Wilder for loaning the library his mother’s scrapbooks so that some of the items could be scanned and made part of the local history collection. Watch for more information from this collection, primarily the Lynn Wilder School of Dance.

Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday. If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.